First-rate Kayakers Champion the Cause of Alzheimer's Disease To Honor Their Fathers; Unique Event Set To Launch on July 8

Beginning July 8, two kayaking champions will skillfully circumnaviate the 300 miles of Long Island with a very serious motive--to support the Long Island Alzheimer's Foundation (LIAF) and to honor their fathers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2003
Contact: Carol Steinberg
         866-789-5423

First-rate Kayakers Champion the Cause of Alzheimers Disease To Honor Their Fathers:
Unique Event Set To Launch on July 8

PORT WASHINGTON, NY (PRWEB) July 2003 -- While Long Islanders are enjoying the surf and sand this July, two champion kayakers will skillfully ply surrounding waterways with a very serious motive-to support the Long Island Alzheimers Foundation (LIAF) and to honor their fathers.
    
The kayakers are participating in LIAFs Memory Paddle Challenge," a 300-mile circumnavigation of Long Island, NY in a 23-foot double kayak from July 8 to 14.

Timothy Dwyer, the national mens marathon open kayak champion, and Maury Eldridge, a sea kayak record-holder, both have watched Alzheimers disease ravage their fathers, making the Challenge not only the most daunting, but also the most personal paddle of their kayaking careers.

Now in its third year, LIAFs Memory Paddle Challenge" is one of the countrys longest and most grueling paddling events. The 2003 team was chosen after LIAF issued a nationwide search for kayakers that drew responses from as far away as Seattle and San Francisco.

A school psychologist, Dwyer, 43, hails from Jamestown, RI. Eldridge, 53, lives in Needham, MA and is a clinical psychologist who got his Ph.D. from Adelphi University in Garden City.

If there is one 'message in a bottle that these courageous kayakers are carrying with them on the water, it is hope. Support services can ease the burden of this horrific disease," said Eric J. Hall, LIAFs chief executive officer.

The Memory Paddle Challenge" launches on July 8 with an opening ceremony at 11 a.m. at Danfords on the Sound, 25 East Broadway, Port Jefferson, NY; Drew Scott of News 12 will emcee. Then, at the stroke of noon, the ace kayakers will head off into Port Jefferson Harbor.

On the first leg, the seasoned athletes will glide 42 miles west on the Long Island Sound to Port Washington, where LIAF is headquartered. If Mother Nature is in their favor, they expect to be on the water seven hours, and dock at Brewer Capri Marina West, 86 Orchard Beach Blvd., Port Washington at approximately 7 p.m. Tuesday evening.

The goal is to master the 300 miles in seven days, travailing about 40 miles a day, at an average six miles per hour. The mission will end with a welcome home reception at Danfords at 12:30 p.m. on July 14.

The public is invited to support the Challenge by attending the opening ceremony, launch and welcome home reception; cheering on the team at various ports of call and happy hours across Long Island; and sponsoring paddle strokes at $1 each to mark the 250,000 strokes to paddle the course. For more information, call LIAF at 866-789-5423 or visit www.liaf.org.

Proceeds from the event will fund LIAFs innovative educational and social services for patients and their families in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn.

For both A-one paddlers, the events significance cuts much deeper than proving athletic prowess since they have seen first-hand how Alzheimers disease strips away an individuals cognitive functions and personality, and anguishes their families.

Dwyers dad, Francis J. Dwyer, died from Alzheimers-related complications in 1990 after ten years of suffering from the brain disorder. Eldridges 87-year-old father, once a prominent economist, was diagnosed with Alzheimers about two years ago; the disease is slowly robbing him of his great intellect," Eldridge said.

The brain disorder attacks an estimated five million Americans, including one in ten over age 65 and nearly half of those 85 and older. It is marked by the loss of memory, verbal skills and other cognitive functions, and is the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S.

By participating in the event, Eldridge said, My strongest hope is that the awareness raised by the Challenge will help people put aside the embarrassment or shame they experience about Alzheimers disease, and actively pursue the care and support that will help them live to the fullest within their progressive limitations. As my fathers wonderful caregiver said when my father commented that he had lost his pride, 'Lets go find it."

The team has raced together in a tandem sea kayak just once before-winning a trial race at the U.S. Canoe Association National Marathon Canoe and Kayak Championships in Hanover, NH last August.

Dwyer approached Eldridge then about tossing their hat in the ring for the Challenge, unaware that Alzheimers disease had also struck Eldridges family.

I thought, 'This is too serendipitous. Its a chance to honor my father and highlight the disease through a sport I love," recalled Dwyer, who earned the mens marathon K-1 open kayak title last summer in his first try at the Nationals.

Recognizing Alzheimers dramatic impact on caregivers in addition to patients, Dwyer said this endeavor will also pay homage to my mothers efforts to take care of my dad day in and day out."

Dwyer gets fired up that his involvement will enable LIAF to help others struggling with Alzheimers to reap resources that were wanting for his parents at the time.

They had to go it alone," he said. In contrast, LIAF is providing quality of life services for patients and caregivers."    

Likewise, the personal connection to the Challenge grabbed Eldridge. On kayaking jaunts, Eldridge often stops to write poetry, including intense musings about his fathers illness, such as:
My fathers mind wavers between sentience and absence
Mothers mood between determination and gloom

The champions have been training hard for the arduous task ahead, paddling dozens of miles solo each week and linking up for trial runs in the double kayak in New England and on Long Island.

Unknown weather conditions and some treacherous waters await them, especially as they battle the notorious Hell Gate and the East River through Manhattan and the tidal rips off Montauk Point.

Eldridge, who has consistently mastered regional races in New England, said he is ready for the valiant journey ahead. He has paddled more than 1,500 miles during all types of weather over the last nine months to train for this event.

As physically and mentally prepared as he is, he said: We still need the forces of nature to smile on us to allow our success, as well as the support of many people to make it all work. We may be ready, but the sea demands humility."

According to Dwyer, ensuring success will be deliberate," including staying mentally focused, and drinking and eating properly to support themselves for hours on end.

Meanwhile, hes also anxious to dive into the Challenge. It will be great to start. Its been a big commitment and a minor obsession to get ready over the past year. Starting will begin the process of answering the large unknown question: Can we do it? I am eager to prove that we can," said Dwyer.

Major sponsors of this years Challenge are Battelle Memorial Institute, which co-manages Brookhaven National Laboratory; Danfords on the Sound; Tag Motors of Medford, which has donated the recreational vehicle that will follow the kayakers; the Wal-Mart Foundation; and WALK 97.5.

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